on moving to Huntsville

So - I hear that several of you have checked looking to see if there was a report from the Huntsville trip. There's just so much to say and it's a little tricky organizing my thoughts. I apologize for the lack of photos. I brought the camera, but in contemplating total change, I often lacked the energy for photography. I thought it might help me be an observer and therefore less overwhelmed, but it really did just feel like one more thing I kept forgetting to do. I try to compensate with lots of links. So - please click away:


The trip was successful in that we selected an area in which to live: Hampton Cove (http://www.hamptoncove.com/ if the other link isn't working)



Huntsville proper is a city of about 160k (give or take) and from what I can tell, the surrounding county areas include 300k people. There are 4 main areas from which to choose:



Madison, Hampton Cove, Huntsville proper, Huntsville Northeast.



Madison has lots of new developments and much more to offer than Hampton Cove in the way of shopping (Old Navy, Michaels, Target, the mall, etc, etc... ). While the individual houses and the developments surrounding them are nice (pool, playground, lake, houses with chair rails, nice crown moulding, good size rooms all standard), the developments them selves have not been planned well and as you drive around the area, it looks messy and congested (not crowded, just congested). It is also flat land - cotton fields that were plowed to plot down development. Also some of the nicer developments are in unfavorable locations: right off the airport runway, right outside the Redstone Arsenal.



Huntsville Northeast is beautiful and offers acreage - if you want 5 acres and horses, this is where you go. While we were really hoping for one acre of land, we think Emma will benefit most (and probably Mommy too) from living in an area that provides the neighborhood experience where you don't live far enough from school to ride the bus and you can play with the kids in your area on the streets, riding bikes, at the community playground or in the community pool. This area is also farther removed from any kind of convenient/necessary shopping, like the grocery store.

Hampton Cove - we were worried about the "out of town - over the mountain" location issue in relationship to stores for daily convenience, but the area has a Walmart, Publix grocery store (think Vons/Pavillions), Loewes, dry cleaners, Mc Donalds, pharmacy, a few restuarants, a gas station and a few other amenities (just no coffee shop - sigh). It's also been layed out and planned really nicely and is tucked into the eastern side of Monte Sano. Other things, like Target and churches are a 6-10 minute drive. The mall is about 20-30 minutes. Actually, there are 2 malls in Huntsville now! Madison has its OWN mall. Do you think it will share?

Huntsville - some of the older parts of town, Jones Valley, Blossomwood & the Twickenham and Five Points historic districts are part of absolutely GREAT school districts, especially for elementary. Unfortunately they also include a somewhat elite-ist mentality and a real quiet, competitive housing market. This means that you might easily pay $300k for a 1950-70's California ranch/bungalow that looks like an over glorified double-wide, will need to be gutted and rehabed for another 150K. The yards are often small (but not always) and finding something that works for you is a little bit like looking for a needle in a hay stack. Especially since they often go for sale by word of mouth. The pretty, historic homes on acre lots cost a fortune, even for those of us with CA equity. The neighborhoods don't offer the HOA benefits of new development either, but they are "in town." We figured when "out of town" is only 8-10 miles away, why leave CA to pay near CA prices for post WWII CA homes, when we could have a beautiful new(ish) house with a community pool, gym, fishing pond, running trail, etc for the same HOA fee we pay now in an area that also has a top-notch elementary.

So - what does it mean to be "in-town?" As best we can tell, in Huntsville city, it means being bike riding distance or 4 miles from the city center with museums and civic center instead of a 10 mile drive over the hill. In Madison, it means being near the hippest, coolest stuff - like PF Changs, and only a few miles from every store available (never mind the unlit country roads and super messy highway 72 you must perpetually cross) - somewhat overrated to us - jaded and spoiled Angelinos that we are.

We also discovered that EVERYONE thinks where they live is the BEST, and they wouldn't DREAM of living anywhere else, nor do they go into other parts of town if they can help it.

Here are some quotes from funny conversations to help you understand:

From a Blossomwood (old Huntsville) resident who grew up in Long Beach. "I'm telling you right now, you need to know that if you live in Madison, no one from over here will ever come to see you. My very best friend lives in Madison, and we see each other MAYBE twice a year."

"But it's only 12 miles from here," I counter, thinking about that fact that MY very best friend lives in Idaho, and we see find a way to see each other about once a year, sometimes twice.

From the yoga instructor: "Hampton Cove IS a nice area (as opposed to Madison), but I would rather live in a shack in Blossomwood than in a mansion Hampton Cove. It's just so much better being in town where everything is happening."


Happening? What's happening? Do I keep missing something here? And I know gas is expensive, and my playgroup girlfriends will be the first to tell you I prefer not to drive anywhere I don't have to go, that I LOVE living 2-7 miles from almost everything I need on a regular basis, but that 6-11 extra miles, is it really gonna kill ya?

From a middle-aged guy in yoga class: [with exasperation and sincerity] "My only advice is to live where you won't be driving into the sun on your way to and from work E-V-ER-Y day." This is the first piece of actually practical advice I've received. (Hampton Cove to Research Parkway - sun at your back both directions - he would approve.)

From the KU alums (Scott is also a Jayhawk) we met in a Chatanooga, TN restaurant who had transplanted to Huntsville: "We LOVE Madison. We picked it because the schools are the BEST. We love everything about it, all the activities for the kids especially. Where are you looking to buy a house? Hampton Cove? Oh [awkward pause] what district is that? Well [encouraging pause] Hamtpon Cove IS a really good elementary school, but um, doesn't that feed into Huntsville High? [Pause - tone becomes a mix of condescending yet earnest & sincere] Well, you can always send her to private school." Meanwhile their 8 year old daughter is literally picking the mozzarella off our salad. "Oh - is she bothering you?" Hmm...mabye instead of so many activities your kid needs a time out, or better yet a span........

We would have chosen Hampton Cove, because it is the location we felt the most "at home" in as we drove around and around, but we also appreciated that most of the people there answered the "why did you choose Hampton Cove" question with something like:

"We really loved the natural surrondings and hillside with mature trees and streams. Madison is a nice place with good schools and all, but we just really enjoy living under Monte Sano."

Well, that's all for now. Coming up soon:

-Living in the south: it's "A whole 'nother animal"

and

- Preschool shopping: "Since that bus accident, we don't do fieldtrips anymore."